Niklaus Gerber - Issue #43

Since last fall I am working on a very interesting project. The NZZ Media Group is part of Google DNI. The Digital News Initiative (DNI) is a collaboration between Google and news publishers in Europe to support high-quality journalism and encourage a more sustainable news ecosystem through technology and innovation.

We are a small team of very smart people and we are building the NZZ-Companion App. The NZZ-Companion is a personalised news stream that adapts to your daily routine and reading behaviour.

Most media companies still provide their users with a rather anonymous “one-size-fits-all” news experience. This is why NZZ’s DNI project builds on the idea that a more personal, context-aware and ubiquitous news companion will help to keep the user “better informed” and to facilitate the (serendipitous) discovery of contextual information.

We are developing a smartphone & smartwatch app that builds on active/passive personalization and creates a user journey adapted to the specific usage situation and behaviour of the user.

A stay-at-home dad and self-proclaimed “internet celebrity” ignores an obvious addiction to social media, and attention from strangers, while embarrassing his family with his cringeworthy behavior and the hack “content” he creates.